


Prompts and Challenges

by mrspadrona



Series: The 'Auana Club [22]
Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: AO3 FB Challenge, Angst, Fluff, Gen, Smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-02
Updated: 2018-12-07
Packaged: 2019-09-05 08:33:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 4,160
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16807144
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mrspadrona/pseuds/mrspadrona
Summary: For December 2018, I'm doing the following prompts, and setting them in my original 'verse Auana.1.	    Make a List2.	    Slant of light3.	    Mirror Mirror4.	    Morning Ritual5.	    What Haunts You6.	    Wish Upon A Star7.	    Bauble8.	    Apothecary9.	    Bright10.	Should I, Shouldn’t I11.	Illuminate12.	Something Old13.	Silver14.	Daydream15.	Late Afternoon Light16.	Baby, It’s Cold Outside17.	Quilt18.	Snowglobe19.	Shine A Light20.	All Wrapped Up21.	Hello Winter22.	Joyful23.	Childhood Memories24.	Count Your Blessings25.	Seek Peace26.	Warm Glow27.	Shadows28.	Merry Making29.	All The Possibilities30.	Looking Ahead31.	Toast Yourself





	1. Make A List

**Author's Note:**

> Day 1 - Make A List
> 
> The twins wrote a letter to Santa. Mama Grace reads it. 

Grace looked at the piece of paper in front of her, chewing on her bottom lip, and trying desperately not to cry. When the twins had come home from school a few days ago, they’d been more excited than she’d seen them in months, and they had proudly informed her that Missus Kane’olela had let them write letters to Santa in school that day. They had even gotten to mail them directly to the big guy himself! And then, when she picked up the mail today, there had been a letter from Mister K, who was still the Kumu at the school Grace had graduated from, and had included both Malia and Nick’s letters to Santa.

_“Dear Santa,_

_My name is Malia Williams Robustelli, and I live in Hawaii. I have a twin brother named Nick, and he will write you a letter of his own too, and I think we will both ask for the same thing for Christmas this year._

_Our Daddy, Dominic Robustelli the Third, had to go away for doing something that the police said was bad. Mama said that he’ll be home after the police let him go, but me and Nick were hoping that you could send him home early. See, Mama gets sad without Daddy around, and even though Danno and Pops are always here it's not the same, and sometimes we can hear Mama crying at night. I don’t want Mama to be sad anymore so can you please, for Christmas, send our Daddy home?_

_Thank you very much,_

_Mahalo,_

_Malia Williams Robustelli”_

Grace’s heart stopped in her chest, and she had to pause to take a breath before opening Nick’s letter. Unsurprisingly, it was almost identical.

_“Santa,_

_Im Dominic Robustelli the Fourth and I want my Daddy to come home for Christmas, so my Mama will stop being so sad, and he can help her in the garage. Daddy didn’t do anything wrong, and he was just protecting our home so can you please send him home? I know you are usually only here on Christmas Eve, but I was hoping you could send Daddy home early so he can help us to decorate the tree._

_Mele Kalikimaka_

_Nick Robustelli”_


	2. Slant of Light

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dominic hates being away from his family.

Halawa Prison was not where Dominic expected to spend Christmas. He’d fully expected to beat the charge and be home with Grace and the kids by now, but Hawaiian Police had other ideas. He’d been railroaded by the state, and now he was two months into a two year stint. Days weren’t so bad, he had enough to entertain himself between the guards and other guys on the block, but nights lasted forever. Nights when he could imagine Grace in his arms, teasing her about her green relish addiction, or when their three Gimplings would sneak into bed and want to watch movies. Those were the hours that he missed, the moments he couldn’t get back. But those weren’t the worst.

He rolled over on his side and reached out for the note he’d gotten from one of the guards at dinner. He hadn’t had a chance to read it yet, but he was hoping it was news from home. As he did, a slant of light filtering in through the bars of his cell window caught his eye, and he followed it down to where it centered on his chest. A chuckle escaped him as he realized the moonlight had dappled against his skin where Grace’s head usually rested. The chuckle turned to a deep sigh, and he closed his eyes, trying to picture where she was right now. Probably in their bed, with the twins on his side of the mattress, and Stevie tucked up behind Grace, holding onto his stuffed elephant Grace bought for him during her last visit to Iwata when she met with Yamaha. He imagined the weight of her head against his shoulder, the snuffle of her breathing as she drifted between awake and asleep. He could almost feel her, his hands coming up to run through her hair.

“Mio lupo,” her voice came on the wind and he felt it through his soul. As though she were there with him, curled up against his frame.

“Mia regina. I miss you.”

“Oh, mio lupo. We’ve been through worse. We’ll get through this, too.”

“This too shall pass, mia regina?” He could tease her ghost.

“Like a kidney stone, Dominic,” her voice was light as she teased him right back.

“I’ll be home soon,” he promised.

“And when you do, I’ll have a present for you,” she said crypically. He looked down at her, curled against his chest and looking up at him with that same smile she’d had since she was fourteen.

“Oh? And what might my Queen have for me after two years?”

She smiled, and he swore he could feel her kissing him, just where the slant of light touched him. “You’ll see. I’m tired, Dominic. Go to sleep now.” He felt her snuggle closer and he imagined he could smell the motor oil and sunshine on her skin. The feeling of her against him was so real, he almost allowed himself to drift off to sleep. Another blink and he’d be there, next to his Queen, with their kids between them, and the sound of the ocean slapping against the wall behind their property. One more blink and he’d be together with her and he could get through another night. He was almost there when his brain remembered the note.

He held the note up to the slant of light, and his heart stopped. In the quiet of his cell, Dominic Robustelli felt a teardrop run down the side of his face. In the silver moonlight, Dominic read two words.

“Green Relish”


	3. Mirror, Mirror

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What would life have been like if Grace hadn't chosen Dominic?

Grace closed her eyes as she settled into the mattress, her children gathered up around her. Days weren’t awful because she could keep busy. Between the kids, the garage, Shiny and Akoni’s adoption of their son, and other members of the club being inside with Dominic, Grace had no time for herself, which is precisely how she preferred it when Dominic was inside. She smirked at her reflection in the vanity across the bedroom from where she was laying. She said it so casually, as though it were a regular occurrence; which was a blessing and a curse unto itself. This was only the second time Dominic had been put in prison since they had been together, but it was such a matter of fact of her life that it seemed typical. Daddy and Danno had both been sent to Halawa several times as she’d grown up. Several of the guards at the prison had known her since she’d been a young teenager, and treated Grace like a favorite niece when she visited.

Conversely, she got to know the guards and made an effort to be friendly without wanting to cross the line into inappropriate behavior. She’d lived by a specific motto all of her life; it cost nothing to get to know another person and respect their traditions. But tonight, when she was feeling the loneliness of her condition, she had her moment of pause. Not regret, per se, because she had known the outcome of her decisions since Minneapolis, but more of a what-if scenario. She wondered if she could have been happy another way.

Since becoming First Lady, Grace’s eyes had been opened quite a bit to the harsher side of the club. A little research showed her that, despite what she saw every day, their branch of the Red and White had the lowest arrests of any other chapter in the world. Which was cold comfort when she’d had to visit five ol’ ladies in one day after something happened, despite being the sixth of their group whose husband had been arrested and probably wouldn’t be back any time soon. And when she had to plaster a smile on her face every morning when she came out of the bathroom, so the kids wouldn’t suspect how heartbroken she was. Malia and Nick had figured it out within days, but she’d managed to bribe them into silence for a month so she could get confirmation. She could thank Nonna Clara and her pizzelle recipe for that blessing. But eventually, Danno had figured it out. He’d arrived at the garage one morning, and settled into the shade with a cup of coffee.

_“You okay, Monkey?” He’d acted so casually._

_“You know. As good as can be expected,” Grace answered as casually as she could manage._

_“Good. That’s great. I was worried for a second because I was thinking about making pancakes for the Gimp Squad,” Danno had replied as casually as you could imagine. Within seconds, she felt her stomach roll, and she knew he was onto her. “Yeah, that’s what I thought. Does he know yet?”_

_Grace sighed and looked over at her father. “No, he doesn’t. I wasn’t one hundred percent sure and wanted to wait before I told him.”_

_“You doin’ okay, Monkey?”_

_“No, yeah, I’m fine. I’m good,” Grace lied. Danno pinned her with a look but didn’t say anything further._

_“I know it sucks, Monkey. I can’t say I know the exact pain, but you know you aren’t alone.”_

She blinked at her reflection and placed her hand over her stomach and tried to picture what life would be like if she’d walked away from the lifestyle. She could have distanced herself from the club instead of embracing it, ignored the way she felt about Dominic from day one, and accepted Yamaha’s invitation to ride for their international team. Minneapolis never would have happened, and she could have gone on to the rest of her career. Yamaha might have offered to send her to school while she worked with them, and she could be free of the club. She wondered where she would live, what kind of life that would be like. Could she have continued to live in Hawaii and not have any association with the Auana?

She tried to picture herself like that. At eighteen, maybe having an apartment somewhere on the mainland, but mostly traveling airports the same way she had during her first circuit with her trainer. Her contact with her fathers limited to phone calls and the occasional holiday. No dinners with Malia, no Wolves, and she wouldn’t have the occasional ache in her hand when the weather changed drastically because of the brawler’s fracture she’d earned on Andy Olson’s jaw. She wondered if she’d have met Dominic at all, or if she’d have gone the entirety of her life missing the other half of her soul.

The decision was an easy one. Grace had been born the almost granddaughter to the President of the Big Red Machine. Her father had been groomed to take that position over, and she had been raised half Machine, half Auana. There was never going to be another life for her because she didn’t want one. And just thinking of that reminded her of what Marla had told Grace the night she’d gotten Dominic’s mark. “You’re a woman of the Red and White … you can do anything and everything, usually at the same time. Don’t let someday become should have.” She settled into her sheets, the kids pulled tight around her and drifted off to sleep.


	4. Morning Ritual

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven McGarrett likes order and routine.

Routine was the way Steve McGarrett ran his life. Spending twenty years in the military had helped to hone that skill, but it was something Doris had instilled in him from birth. While he never knew what he would be doing form one day to the next, he still framed his day on certain vital moments. Steve woke at four in the morning, went running for an hour, returned to find Danno just waking up, and took a shower. By the time he finished, Danno would have started the coffee, and Steve could make breakfast for them. They’d take their meal out on the lanai, and talk about what they had planned for the day. Every morning since the first time he’d spent the night with Danno, this was their routine. Except, this morning when he’d woken up, Danno wasn’t in bed. As he lay in bed, Steve listened to the house around him and heard Danno in the gazebo in the backyard. He smiled to himself as he pulled his jeans on and padded down the stairs to the kitchen to pour a cup of coffee before joining his husband.

He slid behind Danno on the lounger, one arm crossing over Danno’s chest, and kissed his temple. He could feel the concern that caused his shoulders to bunch up even more than usual. They sat in silence for a while, Steve doing his best to lend his strength to whatever had woken Danno up before Steve. It didn’t take too long.

“I have great news, and I have not-so-awesome news. Which do you want first?” Danno proposed.

“I’ll take the great news.”

“We’re going to be grandparents again,” Danno said, his voice cracking with pride.

“Why do I have a feeling I know the not-so-awesome news is the same news?”

“Because you are a brilliant Army man,” Danno teased lightly.

Steve didn’t bother responding to the bait, just snorted against his scalp. “Seems like someone is always missing her pregnancy, huh?” He couldn’t help but think about missing the twins being born, and remember that Danno had been awaiting sentencing when Stevie had been born.

“Yeah, which is why I wanted to talk to you,” Danno began, turning his head around to look at Steve behind him.

“I can have us packed up and on the road before that coffee in your cup is cold,” Steven answered Danno’s unasked question. He could feel the same pull that he imagined Danno felt. Their little girl, First Lady to their club notwithstanding, was going to be a rollercoaster of emotion, and if they could provide some stability, they knew they would both do whatever they had to.

“Maybe stop and pick up some cocoa puffs and malasadas for the kids, on the way,” Danno stated, moving so he could put his mug down on the table and turn, so he and Steve were face to face.

“For the kids. Right, Danno. I believe that” Steve whispered just before their lips came together in a gentle kiss. He allowed himself to melt backward against the cushions as Danno’s hands came up to settle on his shoulders, and Steve’s own hands reached under Danno’s shirt to pull their torsos together. It didn’t matter how many years they’d been together, how many times they kissed, Steve always wanted more. For as much as he loved Freddie and Cath, with Danno it was a bone-deep feeling.

“Come on, you Neanderthal. If you can get us packed and we can be on the road in the next fifteen minutes, we can have our morning ritual of coffee and running with the kids, and you can take Malia with you.”

Danno stood, and Steve grinned, pushing himself up to follow. Morning rituals were important, but sometimes, they could change temporarily.


	5. What Haunts You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone has their moment ... even when you are as devoted as Grace.

Deciding to take the day off from the garage, it hadn’t taken much convincing on Grace’s part to get Amelia, Lana, and Kono to join her at Pipeline to surf a few waves and play hooky from the day. They’d all met at the diner just after eight thirty, and rode up to Pipeline by ten. The waves were nice, nothing memorable, but enough to entertain for a bit, and by one in the afternoon, all four women were sprawled in the sun, doing more tanning than riding.

“I needed this, sistah,” Kono commented from where she was laying on her back, one arm slung over her belly. She and Kawika were expecting their first, and Grace had already started planning her baby shower.

“My jury is still out,” Lana teased, and Grace replied with a lone finger salute. Everyone broke out into laughter.

“I saved you from inventory. That alone deserves props,” Grace teased.

“True enough. But I’m going to pay for it. The only person available to cover my shift was Adam,” Lana answered with a grimace. Adam was a brilliant sous chef, but he struggled with focusing on a single task at a time. Multi-tasking was imperative in an Executive Chef, and it wasn’t a skill Adam possessed, no matter how hard he tried.

All four women groaned in sympathy, but none argued this time together was necessary. It had been almost two months since they’d spent time together, and they were unique in being the only women, outside of Grace, involved with the club. Grace couldn’t help the comparison of Amy and Renee to Malia, and she was pleased with her small circle of women. Both Renee and Amy were still actively involved with the club, in much the same capacity as they had before, but Grace couldn’t ignore the fact that she sought counsel more often with Lana, Kono, and Amelia. These were the women she trusted with her deepest concerns and her greatest achievements.

“Ew, I’m sorry. Maybe today he’ll finally see common sense?” Grace offered.

“And maybe today will have eighty-six hours to it, and I can avoid worrying about it for a while,” Lana joked, winking at the group.

“If today has eighty-six hours, I would deeply appreciate one of my sisters murdering me. I do not want to live in a world where my clients expect eighty-six-hour protection,” Amelia grumbled gently, fighting against the grin that threatened to spread across her face. All four women burst out laughing at the comment, and Grace relaxed. These were the women she trusted with her soul; the parts that she shared with Dominic, but he didn’t really understand. Her _‘aha o kaikaune_ , or council of sisters, to provide her with an outside opinion and help remind her of their newest sisters.

“I think I’m pregnant,” Grace blurted out.

Instantly, all three women were staring at Grace, almost holding their collective breath. Aside from being their friend, she was also undeniably the First Lady for their club. Neither of her first two pregnancies had gone poorly; one could even argue they were damn near perfect. But that didn’t diminish the worry that naturally occurred with an important pregnancy. As she looked from one woman to the next, she saw nothing but concern, and her heart skipped a beat out of pure love.

“Then you have nothing to worry about, _Ali’i_ ,” Lana commented from her right, using what had fast become not only her childhood nickname, but her unofficial title within the club. “We will protect you until Dominic is home to care for you. And then we will judge the fuck out of him the first time he can’t manage to bottle feed three kids at once.”

Grace burst out into giggles at the joke, but something inside of her quickly turned to tears. Three kids, soon to be four (or maybe five, her oh-so-helpful anxiety brain informed her) and this was the first time she really felt alone, despite being surrounded by family. She pictured all the milestones she normally shared with Dominic; the first ultrasound, first heartbeat, betting on whether she’d have another set of twins, or if she’d finally have Baby Uno, the three in the morning Breakfast Dog craving that had him waking Freckles up. All the things she’d be going through without him. Each one stabbed a little deeper into her heart. Each one cut its own wound, tasting like absolute bitterness at the back of her throat.

For a moment. A second. A thought that disappeared almost as soon as it appeared. For that eternity, Grace had a thought she wished she weren’t pregnant; that this baby had been born when Dominic was home to experience it all with her. In the same breath, she crushed such a blasphemous thought, wanting to never acknowledge its existence.

But in the darkness of her own dreams, for days to come, that particular thought haunts every breath she draws. 


	6. Wish Upon A Star

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One falling star, three specific wishes.

“Okay, so here goes. Santa, I mailed you a letter last week, but I figured it couldn’t hurt if I doubled up. Daddy always tells me that there’s no such thing as trying too hard. Anyway, I’m Malia Robustelli, and I really want to talk about my Daddy. I may have left a few things out in my letter, but that’s cuz I was at school, and I didn’t want the other kids to know about the special relationship my Daddy’s club and your Aloha brother that visits us. I know its important to keep that to myself. So, but, about this wish. Santa,” Malia paused to take a breath before she kept going, her eye focused on where she’d last seen the shooting star so her wish would stick on its tail.

“Mama doesn’t think I know about the baby, but I do. Pancakes, I remember, made her sick with my little brother. And she got real sick the other day when she was making them. So now it's like super important for daddy to come home because Mama needs Daddy when she’s pregnant. Otherwise, she wouldn’t be able to get her Jersey food, and that would make her, like so sad, ya? I promise to be good until the end of the school year, and I won’t start no fights with no one.”

Malia exhaled her wish onto the night breeze and hoped it would catch up to the shooting star. She really wanted Daddy to come home for Mama, but underneath all of that was her desire to have her Daddy home. He always made her feel safe, no matter what, and she loved going to work with him and learning about all the different things he did throughout the day. She especially liked when he took her down to work on an engine and took the time to explain what each tool was and what he used it for. She closed her eyes once she’d wished on the star, and drifted off to sleep.

##

Grace watched the star streaking across the sky, and she had a moment to send her wishes off into the universe, ridiculous though it may have been. Grace had learned long ago not to ignore the energy that her Ohana generated from the island itself, and she cast her heart towards the falling star.

“Mio Lupo, soon enough we’ll be together, and I’ll have such a surprise for you. I know I can do this without you; I’m your queen, and that automatically grants me a few badass points on top of the obviously insane amount of points I get for being an actual badass,” she teased him across the stars, “but I don’t want to do it without you, if that makes sense. I thought we agreed on this when we got married. Together, or not at all.”

She stroked her hand across her still flat stomach, cradling her palms where the pregnancy would eventually swell to. Her smile stretched her lips wide, and she could feel the joy in her heart.

“And I swear to you, if this is another set of twins, I’m sending Hook and Freckles to come break you out of Halawa. I will not go through that alone, Dominic. So prepare yourself, one way or the other,” she teased, gathering all of her love into one giant thought.

“I love you, Dominic. I’m waiting for you, the Wolf’s Queen forever and always,” she whispered, blowing a kiss into the night sky.

##

Dominic was almost asleep when a wave of homesickness so strong, he was practically weak against the tide of emotion it stirred in him. He reached for the side of his bunk, needing to anchor himself in the now, just in case the passion swept him away. He could picture Grace in their bed, curled on her side and cradling her obviously pregnant stomach in her palms, looking at him with that … he couldn’t describe it. It was just a look she gave him whenever they were together, and she was pregnant. Dominic was ashamed to admit the label his primal brain had branded the display, but in the darkest part of his mind, each time Grace looked at him with that expression, his brain had defaulted to a primal level of pride in his female. Pride in his partner, and his wife, certainly, but on a deeper level, it was an animalistic response. He wanted to be there with her through every moment, experience each milestone together, like they had with her first two pregnancies.

He hated that he wouldn’t be there, and as an afterthought, Dominic sent a half-hearted plea to the universe that he could be released by Christmas so he wouldn’t miss any more milestones. It couldn’t hurt anything, even as far-flung as wishing upon a star.


End file.
